How does the updated Nutri-Score discriminate and classify the nutritional quality of foods in a Norwegian setting?

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Research

M. H. Abel¹  K. Lund-Iversen²  A. L. Brantsæter³  B. Øvrebø³  M. M. Paulsen³  L. F. Andersen⁴ 

[1] Centre for Evaluation of Public Health Measures, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;Centre for Sustainable Diets, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;Research Administrative Support, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;Department of Food Safety, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;Centre for Sustainable Diets, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;Institute of Basic Medical Sciences/Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;

关键词: Nutrient profiling;    Nutrition;    Nutri-Score;    Food-based dietary guidelines;    Front-of-pack nutrition label;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12966-023-01525-y

 received in 2023-07-06, accepted in 2023-09-29,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe Nutri-Score is a candidate for the harmonized mandatory front-of-pack nutrition label enabling consumers in the European Union to make healthier food choices. Nutri-Score classifies foods (including beverages) from A (high nutritional quality) to E (low nutritional quality) based on the foods’ qualifying and disqualifying components. We aimed to evaluate the updated Nutri-Score for foods (2022) and beverages (2023) in a Norwegian setting by exploring its ability to discriminate the nutritional quality of foods within categories. Additionally, we assessed Nutri-Scores’ ability to classify foods in accordance with the Norwegian food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs).MethodsThe updated Nutri-Score was calculated for 1,782 foods in a Norwegian food database. The discriminatory ability of the updated Nutri-Score was considered by exploring the distribution of Nutri-Score within categories of foods using boxplots and frequency tables, and by examining which qualifying and disqualifying components that contributed most to the Nutri-Score class. Accordance with the Norwegian FBDGs was assessed by exploring Nutri-Score for foods specifically mentioned in the guidelines.ResultsOverall, the updated Nutri-Score seemed to discriminate the nutritional quality of foods within categories, in a Norwegian setting. The foods’ content of salt and the beverages’ content of sugar were components contributing the most to Nutri-Scores’ discriminatory ability. Furthermore, in most cases the updated Nutri-Score classified foods in accordance with the Norwegian FBDGs. However, there were minor inconsistencies in how Nutri-Score classified certain foods, such as the inabilities to discriminate between full-fat and low-fat/leaner cheeses, cremes and processed meats (sausages), and between whole grain and refined pasta/rice.ConclusionsWe observed an overall acceptable discriminatory performance of the updated Nutri-Score in a Norwegian setting and in most cases the updated Nutri-Score classified foods in accordance with the Norwegian FBDGs. However, minor inconsistencies were observed. Together with the FBDGs, the updated Nutri-Score could be a useful tool in guiding consumers towards healthier food choices in Norway, but consumer evaluations are warranted to fully assess the performance of the updated Nutri-Score in a Norwegian context.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

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